Tragic secret of new care deaths

by Nigel Rosser
Three previously undisclosed cases of children who met violent deaths while in Haringey social 
services care have been admitted by the council following the death of eight-year-old Anna Climbie. 

 
 
  Anna Climbie, 8: brutally tortured and murdered
  
  
The council refuses to divulge details of the deaths and lawyers say they need the consent of 
the parents or guardians of the children, some of whom may have been implicated in their 
killing, before making facts public. 

Amid claims of a cover-up by the embattled council, the revelations will increase the concerns
 raised by Anna's death, described as the worst child-abuse incident ever seen in Britain, 
about the council's ability to protect children in its care. 

As an inquiry begins into how the council allowed Anna to be tortured to death by her great 
aunt and her lover, Haringey officials have revealed that a total of five more children in 
their care have died in recent years, including the three previously unknown cases. 

In all, six children, including Anna, have died while in council care in the past 10 years. 
The two other deaths that have been revealed are Jason Dalson, six, and his five-year-old 
sister Natalia, who were smothered to death by their 22-year-old mother Sharon in 1992. 

The council removed the children from the at-risk register despite their mother being a 
violent schizophrenic. 

After killing her two children, Sharon Dalson bathed their bodies and tucked them up in bed 
before going to the police claiming "voices" made her do it. 

An independent review subsequently concluded that there were serious shortcomings in the 
council's social services system at the time and attacked Haringey for poor supervision 
of children returned to problem families. Haringey, however, declined to discipline any 
of the social workers involved. 

Haringey denies it is covering up the deaths. It says it is "inappropriate" to release details 
into the public domain years after the event. 

However, the deaths will raise more questions about the culture of political correctness 
within the department following the Climbie tragedy. 

Officials admitted that social workers involved in her case believed Anna's terror of 
her carers, noted by police and paediatricians, was attributed to "the fear and respect 
for their elders needed by black, African and Caribbean families". 

Anna died in February last year after being tortured by her great aunt Marie-Therese 
Kouao and her boyfriend, Carl Manning. Kouao, 44, and Manning, 28, were given life 
sentences for her murder. 

Tied up in a binliner and forced to sleep in a bath, Anna suffered 128 injuries. 

Although blame was heaped on 31-year-old social worker Lisa Arthurworrey, Evening 
Standard investigations have revealed deep divisions and political rifts in the 
department responsible for the safety of Anna. 

Carole Baptiste, 38, who directly managed the team had her own child placed under 
a supervision order while working for the council, and has since been referred for counselling. 

Social services offices took Ms Baptiste's child into care after being called by concerned 
neighbours in January last year. 

They found Ms Baptiste naked and in a state of distress. One former colleague said: 
"How could she look after other people's children if she couldn't look after her own? 
She was eccentric and incompetent. She was supported by the white staff because she 
was black and they didn't want to be called racists." 

Ms Baptiste left Haringey council telling friends she was going to enroll in the 
University of the West Indies to train as a doctor. She was given a redundancy package.

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© Associated Newspapers Ltd., 01 February 2001
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